Typewriting machine



June 24, 1930. A. G. F. KUROWSKI TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed May 31, 1929 INVENTOR- Patented June 2 4, 1930 .UNITED .sTATes PATENT OFFICE .ALFBED G. F. KUROWSKI, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD ELLIOTT FISHER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE TYPEWRITIN G MACHINE Application filed May 31, 1929. serial in. 367,287.

This invention relates to typewriting machines, and more particularly to paper-feed ing mechanism for such machines.

It is desirable to leave a predetermined margin at the bottom of a typewritten sheet,

and it is also desirable to have that margin of the same depth on the various sheets of a given document. The personal attention of v the typist to this matter re uires time and care, and the result may not e exact. It is therefore desirable to provide automatic means to limit the feed of a work-sheet, so

' that typing may not be done on a sheet below a predetermined point, and such is' an object of this invention.

In the device hereinafter described in 'detail, a sheet-operated trip controls a latch movable into the path of the line-space mech- I anism to lock thelatter against operation 0 and prevent the advancement of the worksheet. The trip is held out of an annular groove in the platen by the interposition of the work-sheet, but when the groove becomes uncovered by the advancement of the bottom. '25 edge of the paper past the trip, the latter.

drops into the groove, and by that movement throws the latch into, locking engagement I with the line-space mechanism to prevent the advancement of the.work-sheet.

When a work-sheet is not on the platen and when the'platen holds a comparatively narrow work-sheet which does not cover the mentioned annular groove of the platen, the trip-and the latch are yieldably held in the annular groove and in locking engagement with the line-space mechanism, respectively. In such cases it is necessary to remove the trip from the groove and release the latch from the line-space mechanism to permit the insertion of the work-sheet and to allow the feeding of the work-sheet. To this end a re lease device is provided which, in one move ment, disengages the latch and holds it disengaged, and simultaneously removes the trip from the groove. 1 1

-.A feature of the invention is an indicator which is operable in and'out of effective position with the latch, whereby the typist may know when the sheetis in the position of the 80. last line to be typed.

I broken away.

, line-spacing mechanism.

\ against a lip 26 of a slide 27 to push the latter An object of the invention is the provision of a device of the character described which may readily be applied to typewritingmachines now on the market.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. I

In the. accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view .of an endportion of a typewriter-carriage equipped with the present invention, parts being Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1 showing the signalling and locking mechanism in effective position, parts being broken away.

Figure 3 is a front view of Figure 1, except that the line-space locking device is in effective position, the work-sheet being atfthe last typing line.

.l igure4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing part of the invention locking the Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Fi ure 2 but showing the signalling and 100 ing mechanism in ineffective positio ,-Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates a platen on a shaft 11 carried in a platen-frame which includes a left side plate 12. In Figures 1 and 3 the platen is shown carrying a work-sheet 15, the latter being positioned, in Figure 3, at the last typing km,

'while in Figure 1 it is interposed between an annular groove 16 in the hereinafter described.

The platen-shaft 11' carries at its left end, as shown in Figure 3, a ratchet-wheel 18 which is part of the usual line-spacing mechanism, the ratchet-wheel, and also the platen, being rotatable b turning to the right a linespace lever19 w ich is also employed to return the carriage. A knob 20 may also be used to turn the platen. The line-space lever 19, which is pivoted to the carriage-frame 22 by a pivot-pin 23, has a projection 25 which, when the lever is turned to the right, presses platen, and a trip,

rearwardly against the tension of a spring 28, shown in Figure 2. A lever 30 is pivotally secured at its forward end to the outer side of the slide 27 by a screw 31,. as shown in Figure 3, and extends backward along the cludes a slide, its rear end-portion being curved downwardly.

is integral with and extends outwardly from the lever 30.

When the slide 27 is in its normal forward position, in which it is held by the spring 28, the downwardly-curved end-portion of the lever 30 rests on a detent 34 to keep-the pawl 32 out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel 18, but when the slide is pushed back by the line-space lever 19, the downwardly-curved end-portion 'of the lever 30 passes beyond the detent 34 at the beginning of the backward motion, allowing the curved lever to drop down, and the pawl 32 to engage the ratchet-wheel. The continued backward -movement of the slide enables the pawl to turn the ratchet-wheel and thereby advance the work-sheet'15 to a predetermined extent,

i. e., either for single, double or triple line spacing. I

From the foregoing itwill be readily seen that the line-spacing mechanism may be rendered inoperative if, the slide 27 is prevented g; from moving, which the present invention does by means .now to be described.

To the top of the side plate 12 of the platen-frame'is secured a plate36 by means of two screws 37. Depending from the forgo ward inner side-portion of the plate 36, and

integral therewith, is a member 38 which is provided with a angles thereto from-the lower forward side thereof. To the lug 39 is pivotally secured, :5 by means of a shoulder-screw 41, a lever 42,

this lever being provided with a verticallydisposed side-portion 42, through which passes the shoulder-screw 41, and which lies parallelwith the lug 39. The lever 42 inhorizontal portion 43 and a vertical portion 44. Secured to the free end of the horizontal portion 43, b means of two screws 45, is a trip 46-, the en -portion 47 of which is partly bent back upon itself and is disposedopposite the annular groove 16 of the platen. The bent end-portion of the trip 'is' normally held within the groove by means of a spring 49 which is coiled around the shoulder-serew 41, and has one of its ends 50 pressing against the upper edge of the lug 39 as shown in Figure 2, while its other end 51 presses against the vertical portion 44 of the w lever 42-. The upper end of the vertical por- -tion 44 of the lever 42 is bent outwardly at right angles thereto forming a latch 53 which is normally held by the coiled spring 49 between the lip 2601? the slide 27 and a portion 55 depending from the top of the side plate 12"of the platen-frame.

When the latch 53 is disposed between the lip 26 and the depending portion 55 of theside plate, as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the

slide 27 is prevented from being pushed rearwardly by the line-spacing lever and there- 05 fore the line-spacing mechanism is inoper-' A pawl 32, also shown in Figure 3,

lug 39'extending at right ative. At the same time that the latch 53 is held in looking position by means of the coiled spring 49, the end-portion 47 of the trip is held in the annular groove 16 of the platen.

Secured to, and extending above, the latch 53 is a pin 57 which passes through a slot- 58 in a plate 59 which is the forward'end-portion of the plate 36. The plate 59 guides the pin and thus guides the latch and gives the latter steadiness while moving. A coverplate 60 is positioned on the plate 36 and is secured thereto and to the top of the side plate 12 by means of the-screws 37. The cover-plate 60 has a square aperture 61 through which may be seen, when the latch is in looking position, as in Figures 2, 3 and 4, a signalling device in the form of a colored plate 63 which is fixedly secured to the top of the pin 57, the colored plate thus being movable with the latch and being invisible when the latch is in its inefi'ective position, as it is in Figures 1 and 5. 1

As previously stated, the latch 53 is normally in looking position and the end 47 of the trip is at groove 16. To place the work-sheet 15 on the platen, the trip must be removed from thegroove and this may be accomplished by shifting to the right a shouldered knob 65, shown in Figures 1 and 4. After the worksheet is in position, the trip is held out of the groove by the sheet and the 'knob 65 is then pushed to the left. The knob is secured to a pin 66 which passes through a slot 67 in theplate 59, the lower end of the pin being fixed to a plate 69 which is slidable from left to right and vice versa, and is disposed under the plate 59. A movement of the knob therefore moves the sl'idable plate 69, which is guided by a shouldered pin 71, the lower end' of which is fixed to the plate 59, an 0 en the same time in the annular slot 72 being provided in the plate 69 to al ow its movement relative to the pin 71.

The plate 69 is provided with a spring- -detent 73, as shown in Figures 1 and 5, which contacts with the pin 57 when the knob 65 is moved to the right, and the movement of the detent is thereby efiective to move the latch from its effective to its inefltective position. The detent 73 has an upraised portion 78 which engages a depression 79 in the lower surface of .theplate 59 to-hold the latch out of engagement with the line-spacing mechanism and engages a depression 80 in the. same surface when the detent is in a position leaving the latchfree tomove. The knob 65 may be employed to release the trip from the groove 16 not only when a work-sheet is to be placed on the platen, but also when-a comparatively narrow work-sheet is to be typed, such asa card, forexample, which does not cover the groove, and which, therefore, is not position, it being remembered that the latch, by the action of the coiled spring 49, is in locking position and the trip in the groove unless restraining means are in effect. Pointers 7 5 and 76 are formed on the coverplate 60' adjacent the knob 65 and are respectively marked on and off to 'indicate' whether the line-spacing mechanism is locked or free. I

A work-sheet disposed betwen the trip and the platen is effective to keep the trip out of the groove and the latch out of locking position. When, therefore, in typing the Worksheet has been advanced to the point where the lower edge of the sheet passes or leaves the trip, as in Figure 3, the latter, urged by the coiled spring 49, enters the annular groove 16 and the latch moves into locking position where it prevents the movement of the slide 27, and consequently the operation of the line-spacing mechanism. The Work-sheet 15 is then at the last typing line 82 of Figure 3, the numeral 83 indicating a type-head. The mechanism described is thus eflective to limit the typing on a work sheet, to provide the desired vertical margin at the lower end of the sheet, and it will be readily understood that the length of the trip determines the depth of the margin, a suitable trip being used for the margin desired.

After the work-sheet has passed the trip, it is held to the platen by the upper feed-rolls 84, ofwhich only the left one is shown.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the' improvements may be used without others. I Having thus described my invention, I claim: 7

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a rotatable platen and line-spacing mechanism therefor, of a sheet-controlled locking mechanism, including a latch, to prevent operation of the line-spacing mechanism and thereby indicate the approach of the bottom of the sheet to the printing line a release device independent of the sheet and movable independently of the locking mechanism to move the latter out of operative position and hold it there, a guide-pin on the latch, and a 50 guide for the pin, said release device including a slidable plate provided with a knob and having a spring-arm which contacts with the pin to move the latch to inoperative position, said spring-arm havinga detent engageable with a depression in said guide.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen-frame, a platen having an annular groove and line-spacing mechanism, of a plate secured to the platen-frame and having a depending portion, a lever pivotally secured to the depending portion of the plate, a paper-controlled'trip at one end of the lever tending to occupy the annular groove, a latch at the other end of the lever urged into a position locking the line-spacing mechanism,

and guiding means for said latch, said guiding means including a pin secured to said latch and movable in aslot formed in the forward portion of said plate.

v 3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen-frame, a platen having an annular groove and line-spacing mechanism, of a plate secured to the platen-frame and having a depending portion, a lever pivotally secured to the depending portion of the plate, a paper-controlled trip at one end of the lever tending to occupy the annular groove, a latch at the other end of the lever urged into a position locking the line-spacing mechanism, guiding means for said latch, said guiding means including a pin secured to said latch and movable in a slot formed in the forward portion of said plate, and a signaling plate slidable by said latch.

,4. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen-frame, a platen having an annular groove and line-spacing mechanism, of a plate secured to the platen-frame and having a depending portion, a lever pivotally secured to the dependin portion of the plate, a paper-controlled tr1p at one end of the lever tending to occupy the annular groove, a latch at the other end of the lever urged into a position locking the line-spacing mechanism, guiding means for said latch, said guiding means including a pin secured to said latch and movable in a slot formed in the forward portion of said plate, a, signaling plate slidable by said latch, and a release device independent of the paper and movable independently of the latch-mechanism to move the latter out of engagement with the line-spacing mechanism and hold it there.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen-frame, a platen having an annular groove and line-spacing mechanism,

of aplate secured to the platen-frame and means including a pin secured to said latch and movable in a slot formedin the forward portion of said plate, a signaling plate slidable bysaid latch, and a release device independent of the paper and movable independently of the latch-mechanism tovmove the latter out, of engagement with the linespacing mechanism and hold it there, said release device including a slidable plate for moving said latch and having a detent engageable with a depressionin said plate. ALFRED G. F. KUROWSKI. 

